The Butterfly's Boy AKA Demolition Lovers
by ragamuffin009
Summary: My first shot at a tradtional songfic. A short, twochapterlong fic about episode 114. I hate myself for using such a generic idea, but it's pretty well done, so I can accept it. [If ya squint real hard, you can almost see the slightest hint of ShikaCho]
1. Into Your Icy Blues

"Dad… I have a lot of friends…"

The boy smiled sadly, tears streaming down his skull-like face. He clutched his heart, let out a small cry of pain, then leaned against the trunk of the tree where his friends had carved messages to him.

An arrow, pointing in the direction they went.

'Hurry up and come, 'ttebayo.'

'Everyone's waiting for you.'

He sank down to the ground. His head fell forward onto his chest. His hand dropped, and the blue forehead protector slipped from it.

Nearby, a flock of bright sapphire butterflies danced through the air, occasionally landing on one of the many yellow flowers that dotted the area…

_Hand in mine, into your icy blues  
And then I'd say to you we could take to the highway  
With this trunk of ammunition too  
I'd end my days with you in a hail of bullets_

Meanwhile, another boy followed his teammates from tree to tree. Suddenly, a blue butterfly fluttered past him. He gasped and watched her fly away.

"What's wrong?" Asked the blonde boy behind him.

After a long pause, the first boy muttered, "…Nothing…"

_I'm trying, I'm trying  
To let you know just how much you mean to me  
And after all the things we put each other through and  
_

A butterfly hovered around the skeletal figure of the boy, slouched against the tree. She was confused as to why he was like this; the boy was usually so full of life. She landed softly on his shoulder.

Why wouldn't the boy wake up?

_I would drive on to the end with you  
A liquor store or two keeps the gas tank full  
And I feel like there's nothing left to do  
But prove myself to you and we'll keep it running_

"Are you sure?" The blonde boy asked, sensing the hesitation in the other's voice.

"Yeah," He replied. But he wasn't sure. Somehow, that butterfly gave him the feeling that the worst had happened.

That butterfly flying past meant his best friend was dead.

_But this time, I mean it  
I'll let you know just how much you mean to me  
As snow falls on desert sky  
Until the end of everything  
I'm trying, I'm trying  
To let you know how much you mean  
As days fade, and nights grow  
And we go cold  
_

The boy wouldn't wake up.

The butterfly, if she could have, would have sighed. She slowly flapped her wings and left the boy, unsure of her destination. She flew for a long time, until she saw a group of boys leaping from tree to tree. She noticed one in particular, the one with the spiky ponytail. She remembered her boy always being so happy around that one.

She fluttered past him, trying to let him know that her boy wasn't waking up.

'Go fix my boy,' she said in her own little way of speaking, 'he's been damaged.'

Would he listen?

_Until the end, until this pool of blood  
Until this, I mean this, I mean this  
Until the end of..._

He sighed again, looking up at the clouds he loved so much.

'Please, let him be alive,' he thought, 'please…'

_I'm trying, I'm trying  
To let you know how much you mean  
As days fade, and nights grow  
And we go cold_

'If he dies, I don't know what I'll do…'

_But this time, we'll show them  
We'll show them all how much we mean  
As snow falls on desert sky  
Until the end of every..._

'It'll be all my fault… Oh please, let him be alive…'


	2. I Mean This, Forever

'Kami… What have I done?'

The boy sat outside of the ICU, trying to figure out what he'd done wrong.

He regretted even accepting the mission. He should have known was destined to fail. He should have known! Five kids-yes, just _kids_-went out, perfectly healthy.

_All we are, all we are  
Is bullets I mean this_

One came back torn and bruised, after battling with his best friend. Hospitalized for an undeterminable amount of time.

'Naruto…'

_All we are, all we are  
Is bullets I mean this_

One came back scarred from his own knife, after being forced to stab himself to defeat his enemy. Hospitalized for one week.

'Kiba…'

_All we are, all we are  
Is bullets I mean this_

One came back with a gaping hole through his chest, impaled by a golden spider's thread. Currently in intensive care.

'Neji…'

_All we are, all we are  
Is bullets I mean this_

One came back with a hand clutching his heart. He came back with skin and bones where there used to be muscle and fat. He came back pale and waxy where he used to have a healthy pink glow.

He came back, and the boy was sure he was dead. Currently in the ICU the boy was sitting outside of.

'Chouji…'

_  
As lead rains, will pass on through our phantoms  
Forever, forever_

All he got was a broken finger. That's it. And he still had to be rescued. He wished that Temari and her brothers had gotten there on time to save his best friend. That they'd left _him_ to die instead.

But that isn't what happened.

_Like scarecrows that fuel this flame we're burning  
Forever and ever_

He'd been saved, and now he had to deal with sitting there, waiting to see whether the boy he'd sent to his death, without even a _second thought,_ was going to live…

Or complete his death sentence.

_Know how much I want to show you you're the only one  
Like a bed of roses there's a dozen reasons in this gun_

'I wish I could tell you just how much you just how much you mean to me…'

He stood up, trying to avoid an argument with Temari. He didn't think he could handle it right then. He passed by his father, who was leaning against the wall.

"Hey, Shikamaru…" He stopped. "You're going to let a girl diss you and just run away?"

"It's troublesome. I don't want to get into an argument. I'm not a girl."

"Yeah. But you're not a man, either. You're just a coward.

"Even if you quit being a ninja, the missions will go on. Someone has to do them. Your friends will just be sent off under another group leader. And your friends may die on those missions… But it's also possible that if that leader happens to be you, then at that time, your friends may not end up dead…

"By reflecting on what happened this time and learning from your experience, you may be better able to complete a mission perfectly. If your friends are truly important to you, before you think about running away, you should think about how to become a better ninja for your friends! That's how true friends are supposed to be! You coward!"

He shifted his hands in his pockets. Just then, the red light turned off, and the Hokage stepped out of the ICU. She sighed heavily, which caused the hair on the back of the boy's neck to stand up.

'What does that sigh mean? "_It was a success,"_ or, "_We did all we could for him."_ Oh Kami, I killed him, didn't I?'

"He's all right now!" So it was the first one. He exhaled the breath he didn't even know he'd been holding. Whatever she said next, he didn't hear. He wasn't paying attention to what was going on around him.

'He's all right… I didn't kill him, after all…'

Someone ran up, and said Neji was fine, as well… So nobody died…

"Shikamaru, it looks like the mission has failed…" The boy lowered his head. "But… Everyone is alive... That is the most important thing."

_And as we're falling down, and in this pool of blood  
And as we're touching hands, and as we're falling down  
And in this pool of blood, and as we're falling down_

"Next time…" he choked, tears streaming down his face, falling onto the concrete floor, "I will do it perfectly…!"

_I'll see your eyes, and in this pool of blood  
I'll meet your eyes, I mean this forever_

Outside the window, a blue butterfly hovered, watching the scene.

'You fixed my boy…' she said, 'thank you…'

She flew away once more. She landed on a yellow flower in a forest.

A flower surrounded by a herd of deer.


End file.
